Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio: Quantifying the Dual-Track Mechanism of Gender Assignment in Latvian Loanwords
Mirrored from arXiv — NLP / Computation & Language for archival readability. Support the source by reading on the original site.
Computer Science > Computation and Language
arXiv:2609.03930 (cs)
[Submitted on 3 Sep 2026]
Title:Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio: Quantifying the Dual-Track Mechanism of Gender Assignment in Latvian Loanwords
View a PDF of the paper titled Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio: Quantifying the Dual-Track Mechanism of Gender Assignment in Latvian Loanwords, by Yelingyun Zhang and 2 other authors
View PDF
Abstract:Existing research has repeatedly observed the tendency for English loanwords to cluster in the masculine gender across different recipient languages, yet the origin of this pattern remains difficult to determine, as fixed morphological rules and default assignments are frequently analysed together. This study proposes the Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio (FSDR) to quantify the degree of reliance on fixed derivational suffixes across different genders, and to distinguish between morphological anchoring and free-choice in distribution. By examining 1,832 Latvian noun lemma types, the results reveal a significant FSDR asymmetry within the loanword system: feminine loanwords rely significantly more on fixed derivational suffixes, while masculine loanwords are more concentrated in the free-choice zone. This pattern exhibits loanword specificity and has become more pronounced in contemporary usage. FSDR therefore provides a quantitative framework for testing default gender and shows how masculine default can be activated and reinforced under language contact.
| Subjects: | Computation and Language (cs.CL) |
| Cite as: | arXiv:2609.03930 [cs.CL] |
| (or arXiv:2609.03930v1 [cs.CL] for this version) | |
| https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.03930
arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)
|
Full-text links:
Access Paper:
- View PDF
View a PDF of the paper titled Fixed Suffix Dependency Ratio: Quantifying the Dual-Track Mechanism of Gender Assignment in Latvian Loanwords, by Yelingyun Zhang and 2 other authors
References & Citations
Loading...
Bookmark
Bibliographic Tools
Code, Data, Media
Demos
Related Papers
About arXivLabs
Bibliographic and Citation Tools
Bibliographic Explorer Toggle
Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?)
Connected Papers Toggle
Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?)
Litmaps Toggle
Litmaps (What is Litmaps?)
scite.ai Toggle
scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?)
Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article
alphaXiv Toggle
alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?)
Links to Code Toggle
CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?)
DagsHub Toggle
DagsHub (What is DagsHub?)
GotitPub Toggle
Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?)
Huggingface Toggle
Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?)
ScienceCast Toggle
ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?)
Demos
Replicate Toggle
Replicate (What is Replicate?)
Spaces Toggle
Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?)
Spaces Toggle
TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?)
Recommenders and Search Tools
Link to Influence Flower
Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?)
Core recommender toggle
CORE Recommender (What is CORE?)
arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators
arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.
Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.
Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.
Discussion (0)
Sign in to join the discussion. Free account, 30 seconds — email code or GitHub.
Sign in →No comments yet. Sign in and be the first to say something.